Birdcage
by Nabooru
Summary: When Cassandra is caught in a world of shadows, will the Jellicles be able to save her?
1. Prologue

**Prologue: The Lady Speaks**

We are quite suddenly alone.

The wind sighs quietly as it winds its weary way; it lifts my fur like the caress of gentle fingers. On that wind, there is a sense of something, though I know not what. It is always there. _Always_…

I look into the light as the sun bleeds into the horizon – another day done. There is something of comfort there. Just as there is something like comfort to be found in the strong tom that stands beside me and watches the sunset with me.

I find that I do not quite know what to do with myself. There is comfort here, but that is foreign to me. As it thrills me, it frightens me.

It is too light here, it is too much for me. I am frightened, I wish to leave, to hide in the shadows again. And he changes it all with a smile and a glance. I wish to stay, I will stay here forever. Only for him will I dare this light.

Doubt comes again in the blink of an eye. It is difficult, so difficult for me to believe that someone like him could be content with someone like me. I am different from him. From them, his people, my people. Too different. I am afraid again. And again he makes it well. This time it takes a small touch, a few murmured words, before I feel all right.

I collect shadows. I have always done so, it is almost second-nature to me. Wherever I go, it is always shadows and outcasts and anger. And fear. I have had no room in my life for anything else, just the shadows. Always the shadows. Only the shadows.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One: Inside the Light, Inside the Dark**

Alonzo came awake wondering what was wrong. He had slept lightly and fitfully, and now he felt more tired than he had when he had gone to sleep sometime in the early morning. Slowly, it dawned on him what was wrong: Cassandra was conspicuously absent.

He knew she had been with him when he went to sleep, which meant she must have gone off on her own somewhere during the morning. But why? Things had been going so well, or at least he thought they had. She had seemed so much more calm than normal, had looked almost happy when he complimented her and said sweet things. There had been the faintest trace of a smile on her lips.

Which made it all the more frustrating that she was gone. He forced himself to stay where he was, resisted the urge to hunt her down and demand an explanation. It hurt, yes, but he reminded himself that he was guilty of doing the same thing to a few queens in the past. She would turn up again when she felt confident enough to do so, and when she did return, he swore to himself that he would be waiting for her. After all, what kind of suitor was he, if he would just abandon her when she needed to be alone for a while?

Still, it hurt. He rested his head on his paws for a while, and just let his thoughts wander. He could not quite work up the ambition to hunt some breakfast.

He was still lying there, half dozing, when Mistoffelees came upon him. The small tuxedo tom looked very upset, but Alonzo was not about to ask what was wrong. He knew that no matter what it was, it was always more trouble than it was worth to help the conjuring cat. Of course, he knew that if it was a matter that would affect the whole tribe, he was duty-bound to help out. Until he knew for sure if it was, he was not volunteering anything.

Instead, he tried not to move overmuch, and hoped Mistoffelees would think he was asleep. No such luck, of course.

"Alonzo," Mistoffelees began, in that perpetually rushed tone of his, "I've been looking all over for you! Something's wrong, very wrong!"

Alonzo cracked an eye open and glared balefully at Mistoffelees. "If something is wrong, why don't you go ask Munkustrap for help? I'm trying to sleep here, you know." He sounded angrier than he had meant to, but that would teach Mistoffelees for being so irritating so early.

The conjuring cat did not react. "I, well, I thought you would be more concerned about this than Munkustrap would," he confessed. "See, it has to do with Cassandra, and I know you've been really, uhm, into her lately."

The mention of Cassandra's name had Alonzo wide awake in an instant. "What about Cassandra?" It was all he could do to keep from grabbing Mistoffelees and forcing the information out of him; his words did not sound good at all.

"She's, well, she's gone. Completely gone. Suddenly gone. Poof! Like that."

"Wait, she left the junkyard? Why? What happened?"

"She didn't leave the junkyard," Mistoffelees insisted. "At least not by any normal means. Like I said: poof! Gone."

"Talk straight, Mistoffelees," Alonzo growled. "What happened?"

Mistoffelees started to shake. "I don't know. I felt something, prickly almost, so I went to have a look. Cassandra was there, and there was something dark. I don't know what it was, or even if she summoned it, but when it disappeared, so did she. I didn't have time to get close enough to hear anything, I don't even know if she said anything. This is awful."

"It'll be okay. Don't worry about it. I'll get Munkustrap and we'll find out what happened to her, and everything will be fine. Come on."

"Are you sure?"

"Have I ever been wrong before?"

"Well, no, except that once –"

"Then come on."

Alonzo led the way to Munkustrap's den, hoping to find the other tom in residence. He was nowhere to be seen. Alonzo swore under his breath.

"Did you say something, Alonzo?" Mistoffelees asked.

"No, nothing," Alonzo denied. "Follow me." He took off, heading for the trails he knew Munkustrap patrolled every day. If he was not in his den, the tabby tom would be somewhere on those trails, and Alonzo could only hope they would run into him somewhere.

They did find him, but it was much later than Alonzo would have liked. Munkustrap was pacing listlessly along the trail, some distance from the central clearing. It almost seemed that he was not paying attention to his surroundings, because he did not notice them until they were practically on top of him.

"Munkustrap!" Alonzo called, for seemingly the hundredth time. The silver tabby finally looked back, saw them, and stopped to wait for them. Alonzo skidded to a halt beside him, and watched Mistoffelees lose his balance as he tried to stop. The conjuring cat finally managed to stop, but could do nothing but pant for several long minutes. Alonzo was winded, too, but it was not so readily apparent in him, his body was used to enduring long runs. He and Munkustrap waited patiently for Mistoffelees to catch his breath.

Munkustrap gave Alonzo a questioning glance, but said nothing. Alonzo merely shrugged. It was up to Mistoffelees to explain this latest madness.

"Munkustrap," Mistoffelees panted, finally impatient with waiting, "something bad happened this morning. Something very bad. I, I don't know how to explain it, exactly, but –"

"I know. I've felt it all afternoon. That's why I'm out here, actually. I think Macavity must have something to do with it," Munkustrap told them.

Alonzo thought on that for a second or two. "I think it's a good possibility. Mistoffelees tells me that Cassandra disappeared some time early this morning. Gah, why am I telling this story? You're the one that witnessed it, Tux, you tell him!"

Mistoffelees cast a worried glance in Alonzo's direction, took a deep breath, and told Munkustrap what he knew. Throughout the tale, Munkustrap remained silent, though he bore a thoughtful expression. Alonzo wondered what he would make of it all. In a way, it sounded devious like something Macavity might do, but in a way it was something completely different and wholly unlike anything the stories claimed Macavity was capable of.

"Hmm," Munkustrap thought aloud. "I don't know quite what to make of that. I mean, I've never heard of something like that happening before, it's very strange."

"I know," Mistoffelees agreed hopelessly.

"It's probably a dead end, but do you think you could show us where it was?" Alonzo asked. "Maybe there's some sort of, I don't know, explanation, at the scene of the crime."

There was hope in Mistoffelees' eyes again at that. "Of course I can show you," he said. "If," he added pointedly, "we can walk there."

"Anything you want, Tux," Alonzo agreed, knowing the nickname would annoy Mistoffelees.

They were able to take a short cut through the junkyard, so they arrived at the scene of the crime in considerably less time than it had taken to find Munkustrap. They had been walking a while when Alonzo felt his fur stand on end and knew without being told that they were getting close. A few minutes later, Mistoffelees stopped in his tracks and said, "This is where it was. A big black thing, over there. Cassandra was standing more over that way." He pointed in the direction of the central clearing.

"The black thing," Munkustrap began, "What did it look like, exactly?"

Mistoffelees thought on that. Finally, he decided, "It was like a big black fog. Kind of. Yes, like a fog, only it stayed in one place and it was completely pitch black. And it was sort of round shaped, but not like a perfect circle or anything."

Strange, that. Alonzo remembered Cassandra going on about shadows. In fact, she nearly always talked about shadows, especially when she was sad. Shadows and moonlight. Very, very odd.

He did not mention any of this to the other toms.

"I think we should investigate any connection this might have to Macavity," Munkustrap proposed. "If he is involved, we have to get Cassandra back as quickly as possible. I hate to say it, but it sounds like if Macavity is not involved, then Cassandra may have simply left on her own. If she did, there's nothing we can do about it."

Mistoffelees had a weird look on his face. Alonzo pretended not to notice and voiced his agreement with Munkustrap, but as soon as they were heading back to the clearing, Alonzo whispered to Mistoffelees, "What's wrong?"

"It wasn't like that, I swear," the conjuring cat whispered back. "She did not leave on her own, I'm sure of it. Her, uhm, I shouldn't say."

"Tell me, Mistoffelees, or you'll regret it."

"Her aura disappeared all of a sudden. If she had left the junkyard by normal means, it would have faded, not just vanished like that."

"Whoa, you can tell where people are by their 'aura'?" Alonzo asked, perhaps a bit too loudly. Munkustrap shot him a curious glance, but he just shook his head. Not know, Munkustrap. More quietly, he continued, "What's an aura, anyway?"

"It's hard to explain," Mistoffelees groaned. "It's a sort of magical imprint that everyone has. It's stronger in some than in others, but it's unique for each one of us. If it's really strong, you get a cat like me, or the twins. Someone that can use their aura to do magic. At least that's what I think happens."

"Wow."

"Not really."

"Yes, really, you dolt. Wait. You can't find Cassandra by her aura?"

"Not anymore," Mistoffelees admitted. "That's why I was so worried in the first place, remember? I told you she _disappeared_. She didn't just wander off, she was just gone! Poof! Gone! Remember?"

"How could I forget?"

"Will you two please stop arguing?" Munkustrap asked mildly, a bemused expression on his face. "We're all worried about Cassandra. Arguing will get us nowhere." Alonzo felt suddenly ashamed; he had not realized their whispered conversation had escalated into a shouting match.

"Yes, sir," Mistoffelees said, saluting. Alonzo cuffed him over the head.

"Knock it off, Tux."

"Yes, sir!"

Alonzo groaned. "I said knock it off."

He was about to take another swipe at the conjuring cat when Tantomile and Coricopat emerged out of the shadows. The twins looked distinctly worried, something which was unusual for them. Normally, they appeared completely at ease, as if they knew exactly what was about to happen. Now, something had changed. Alonzo was afraid he knew what that something was.

"Munkustrap, we must speak with you. Something very important is afoot, something very dangerous," Tantomile, the female twin, said. Her voice was oddly disconcerting. Or maybe it was her words that were frightening, rather than her voice. Or that, for once, she spoke without her twin.

"Something that happened this morning? And Cassandra is involved?" Munkustrap guessed dryly.

Neither of the twins looked very surprised. "Yes," Coricopat murmured. "I imagine Mistoffelees has already told you what he knows. But there is more to this than meets the eye."

"What do you mean?" Alonzo demanded. "You know what's going on?"

"Somewhat," the twins told him, speaking in unison. The effect was eerie. Tantomile continued on her own. "Something dark came to the junkyard last night. We do not know _what_ it was, but we do know _why_ it came here. To the trained eye, it is obvious that it came here to find Cassandra."

"It is impossible to know why," her brother continued, "but considering she disappeared in its presence, it is reasonable to guess that it came here to take her somewhere."

Alonzo blinked. Mistoffelees was strangely silent.

"What are you talking about?" Munkustrap asked, finally.

The twins bore the same expression, though Alonzo was not quite sure what that expression was. Certainly, it was somewhere between amusement and consternation, but exactly what it meant was unknown to him. Those two certainly were weird.

"We believe that it came here to transport Cassandra somewhere else. It is as simple as that. There is no other explanation that fits. If it had come here for any other purpose, Cassandra would still be here. But the fact remains that both she and this thing of darkness are gone, which means she must have gone somewhere, and it must have been the path, so to speak." It was Tantomile that spoke this time, almost as if the twins were taking turns.

"But," Alonzo protested, "Why? Where? I don't get it."

"We do not claim to understand any more than you do," Coricopat told him. "We merely came here to be certain that you know what is going on before you get yourself in any deeper." 

"Get myself in any deeper? What do you mean?" Alonzo demanded. The twins both turned and looked at him, identical gazes that were frightening in their understanding. He flinched away from those twin gazes, knowing it was both pointless and offensive to do so.

"It is for you to understand, Alonzo," Tantomile said, compassion audible in her voice. "If you search hard enough, you may find the answer, but…"

"We do not believe it is our place to help you. At least not now."

"Hey, wait!" It was too late; the twins had made up their minds. When they made up their minds to do so, they could vanish into the shadows almost effortlessly. Alonzo growled in fury.

Suddenly, Mistoffelees seemed to snap out of his trance. "I think I know what to do!" the conjuring cat announced, his voice all but crackling with excitement. "We have to somehow bring that thing back here and find out what it did with Cassandra." Alonzo rolled his eyes.

"And how, exactly, do you propose we do that?"

"May I offer a suggestion?" Munkustrap asked, walking over and standing between the two arguing toms. "How about we don't do anything until we find out more about this thing. I still think it would be worth it to see if Macavity is connected in any way. And who knows, maybe Cassandra will come back on her own." They all knew that was not likely, just as much as they knew that even if she did return on her own, nothing would be the same.

Alonzo sat down, feeling defeated. "Whatever, Munkustrap. You go check out Macavity, or whatever you want. I'm going to wait here and see what happens. Who knows? Maybe things will go my way for once."

"Don't pick a fight, Alonzo," Munkustrap suggested as he stalked off. Mistoffelees looked after him.

"Go with him if you want, Tux. I'd rather be alone right now, anyway."

"Er, okay. I, I guess I'll be back later then. See you." Mistoffelees knew how to disappear every bit as effectively as the twins. Good riddance.

Alonzo sighed and lay down uneasily. Something about this place put him on edge, but something altogether different gave him the feeling that if Cassandra did intend to return, this would be the place where she would return. He began to grow bored with the waiting, nothing seemed to change in the slightest while he lay there watching. All was still, and quiet, and he was so, so sleepy all of a sudden.

Someone poked him in the shoulder. Why was it so cold and so windy? He growled and squeezed his eyes shut. Someone whispered his name, urgently. "Go away, I'm trying to sleep," he muttered.

Again, his name. This time, even more frantic.

Finally, he sat up and opened his eyes. "Jemima? What –"

She was not even looking at him any more. Her gaze was focused on the swirling mass of darkness that drew ever closer. She just stood there, staring at it. "Alonzo," she whimpered. "What is that thing?"

Alonzo was on his feet in a second. He drew in a deep breath and nearly panicked. This had to be that evil thing Mistoffelees and the twins were talking about, it just had to be. And now that it was here, he did not know what to do. Except he did. "Jemima, get out of here. Now."

"What? No. You can't expect me to go when –"

"I said get out of here. Do it."

"I –"

"Go," he roared.

Eyes wide, she turned to flee, but in doing so nearly ran headlong into Mistoffelees. The conjuring cat glanced at Alonzo, then stared at the mass of shadows that was writhing behind him. "I knew it," he murmured. "I felt it. I knew it would come back."

"What are you talking about?" Jemima asked, bewildered.

"This, this thing," Alonzo said, watching it out of the corner of his eye. "It came here this morning and took Cassandra away, and now it's back." Jemima's eyes went wide. She backed away slowly. The wind grew in intensity, almost howling with fury. Alonzo stared at it, daring it to do its worst. Almost as if he had always known it was there, he realized there was a doorway of some sort at the bottom of it, a single patch of stillness in the mass of moving darkness.

"We have to get out of here." There was urgency and no little panic in her voice as she spoke.

"Then go," Alonzo told her. "I'm going in."

"What?" Mistoffelees and Jemima shouted in unison.

"There's a door," he pointed. "Cassandra went through it. I'm going after her." Ignoring the protests of his friends, he strode toward that small black doorway. The wind grew fiercer and the air more frigid the closer he got to the door, but he did not stop until he was through.

He was through, and then he was falling. Falling, falling, falling. An endless descent into empty black space.

There had to be ground somewhere. Somewhere, somewhere…

When he hit the bottom, he hit hard, and knew nothing.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two: The Path of Endless Time**

Pain blossomed as Alonzo came awake. He felt roughly as if he had broken every bone in his body, and, to judge by the length of his fall, maybe he had. Of course, he was never so lucky, and he did not have enough patience to lie there and die even if he had been so seriously injured. It took him a few minutes, but he managed to prop himself up and have a look around.

It was dark. That was definitely the most defining feature of this place: its pervasive darkness. There were lights, of course, torches set in sconces at regular intervals along the wall, but it was as if shadow permeated everything here, making the flames seem dim. But perhaps most irritating of all were the two limp forms lying not too far from where he himself had landed. He knew who they were, and he was furious with them for not obeying him. They could have been safe. They should not be here, they should have turned and run.

It was more time before he could manage to get to his feet, and longer still before he felt strong enough to walk. But walk he did, to inspect the two that had followed him through that hole. Jemima and Mistoffelees, the two of them barely more than kittens as far as Alonzo was concerned, but more loyal than was good for them. He supposed he should be grateful that they had followed him, but, well, they should have known better.

They looked cute, tangled up together like that, but they were unusually still, alarmingly so. He did not know what to do.

"Jemima, Misto," he whispered. He did not know exactly why he was whispering, but something told him he should try to be as unobtrusive as possible. "Hey, wake up." He gently prodded Jemima on the shoulder.

She murmured something under her breath and cuddled closer to Mistoffelees. Alonzo chuckled. "Hey, sleepy-heads, wake up." This time he poked Mistoffelees. Hard. The tuxedo tom let out a yelp and leapt to his feet, dislodging Jemima and dropping her awkwardly on the floor. She let out a muffled groan and sat up with a groggy look on her face. "What happened?"

Somehow the two of them did not seem to be in as much pain as Alonzo had been. Indeed, he seemed to be feeling better by the second. Strange. "I don't know. What were you two thinking when you followed me in here?"

Jemima pouted.

Mistoffelees looked chagrined. "I just followed Jemima, here. I can't really speak for her," he said with a silly grin.

Jemima suddenly looked almost ashamed. "Well, I, I –"

"I suppose it doesn't really matter at this point," Alonzo decided. "Except now I have to worry about three cats instead of one. You two better be careful, got it?" The two kittens nodded. Alonzo cast a suspicious glance at Mistoffelees. "And by careful, I mean you better stay the hell out of my way if things get dangerous. No interfering. If something big and scary comes at us, you two will run away like there's no tomorrow, and you will keep running until you find a way out of here. Understood?" Two more nods. "Good. Then we understand each other. Now let's get going."

Alonzo strode ahead, pretending not to see the hurt look on Jemima's face. Mistoffelees had known what to expect when he followed her in here, but apparently Jemima had expected gratitude or niceties or something. Sheesh, who was she to expect gratitude when she had deliberately and knowingly put herself in danger?

The kittens followed him as he chose a direction at random and started walking. This whole thing was starting to feel pretty stupid. There was not even any sort of guarantee that Cassandra was here. Except he had felt so certain of it when he saw the door. He had known beyond a shadow of a doubt. So why doubt now? He knew the answer, at least he thought he did, but tried to keep it out of his mind.

But it came back, beating against the mental blocks until he thought about it anyway. When he had started courting Cassandra, she was supposed to be just another queen. She was the one that would not let anyone get close, the queen that was cold and angry and kept herself separate from everyone else. He had not even known how she had become a member of the tribe. All he remembered was that one day Cassandra had not been there, and the next day she had. He had a suspicion that she had never been formally admitted into the tribe, that somehow she had just shown up and joined them. He could not prove any of this, of course, but he had kept it in mind when he started trying to get her to warm up to him.

Unfortunately for him, she had been a long time about it. He had found out a few things about her, but most often her answers were about shadows and darkness rather than things that were real. She never had spoken about where she came from, beyond that it was far away. It had taken a long time to get her even to smile when he made a joke. It was when she smiled for the first time that he realized he was falling for her.

He had panicked, and that was their first fight. It had been mostly him, but it had been a fight. It had taken him a month to get back in her good graces enough that she would talk to him, and then another month to make her smile again, and now this. All of which led him back to the question that was plaguing him: what was he doing here? What manner of insanity had prompted him to run through that doorway in the darkness?

He did not know. Love, maybe?

He shook his head. Enough of this idiocy. He had all the time in the world to worry about his feelings for Cassandra. Right now, he had other things to worry about. Such as the question of which way to go.

They had reached a fork in the path. There were now three ways to go, each one shadowed and more foreboding than the path they were on now. Left, right, forward. Alonzo glanced down each path, but could see no sign of which was the right way. Maybe there was no right way, maybe they all went to the same place, or maybe they had gone the wrong way to begin with. He paused at that threshold, hovering on the edge of a decision but ultimately unable to take the final plunge.

Jemima came to stand beside him; Mistoffelees stayed a few paces behind. "Which way?" Jemima asked, her normally soft voice cutting through the silence like a knife.

"Left," Alonzo decided, at exactly the same time as Mistoffelees said, "Right." The two toms glared at each other for a moment before Mistoffelees backed off.

"Left it is."

"I think we should go right," Jemima murmured. "Something feels different down that path."

"Different?" Alonzo asked.

"It makes my fur prickle," was all she said.

Alonzo sighed. "I still think we should go left."

Jemima was adamant. "I will not go that way."

Another sigh from Alonzo. He caught Jemima by the shoulders, pulled her easily in front of him, and looked her straight in the eyes. "And why, exactly, won't you go that way?"

"I told you." As if it were perfectly obvious. "It makes my fur prickle." She put particular emphasis on that last part.

"Hey, Tux, can't you do some magicky junk and tell us which way is the least dangerous?"

Mistoffelees looked confused. "Uhh, no?" Alonzo said nothing, so he decided to elaborate. "Magic doesn't work quite like that. I can't look ahead for danger if I don't know the path or the danger. If we were in the junkyard and you wanted me to check for Macavity, I could, but here –"

"Okay, I get it," Alonzo cut him off. "That won't work. So what do we do?"

"Right," Jemima said. "We have to go right."

"Will you just be quiet? You're not making any sense!" Alonzo said, trying to keep his voice from escalating to a shout. He already felt that they were being too loud, though he would be just as bad as Jemima if he gave warnings for no reason.

Jemima pouted. Alonzo glared. Mistoffelees suddenly looked scared.

"Did you hear that?"

"What?" Alonzo asked.

"Did you hear that?" A faint rumble, a clanking sound. Far, far away, but there nonetheless. Alonzo blinked.

"What is it?"

Mistoffelees shrugged. "I don't know, but I don't think it's good."

There was no sound from Jemima. She had turned to face the left path and was staring down it, her fur standing on end. Her lips curled back into a snarl and she shifted from foot to foot nervously. All the while the faint rumbles came closer, accented by the occasional clank. As they waited, the ominous rumbles resolved themselves into the sound of monstrous footsteps, and the clanks became the sound of chains dragging on the ground.

Alonzo hissed. "What are you waiting for? Get going," he growled.

Jemima looked over her shoulder, fear in her eyes. "Not without you," she said with a calmness belying the look in her eyes.

"Who said I wouldn't be right behind you?"

She looked him straight in the eye. "I know you. You'll stay and try to fight it. I don't think you can fight it. It'll kill you." More quietly, "I told you it made my fur prickle."

"You don't even know what it is, how can you tell me whether or not I can fight it?"

Mistoffelees made a strange noise. "Can we just run now?" Alonzo looked at him, realizing belatedly that the frightening sounds had ceased. They had stopped because the monster had arrived. It was worse than he had expected. It was, indeed, enormous, and it was, indeed, covered with chains, some of which dragged along on the ground behind it. Far worse, however, was the black fur, and the hideous gaping mouth. Drool dripped from that mouth and pooled at its feet. Faintly, Alonzo could make out huge, feathered wings behind it.

A low growling sound filled the dark hall. The torches flickered, and something hissed. A moment later, Alonzo realized that it was he himself that had hissed. "What did I say about big and scary things?"

"Jemima, come on," Mistoffelees pleaded, grabbing the small queen by the hand and yanking her after him. Mistoffelees was by no means bad at running away, but Alonzo hoped he would be able to keep up that speed. He waited a few seconds more, staring down the monster, before he turned and ran after them. Behind him, he could hear the ominous rumblings begin again, accompanied by the clanking of the chains and a strange hissing sound. He ran faster, rounded a corner that he almost failed to see in the dark, and finally saw Jemima and Mistoffelees ahead of him. They had obviously slowed down a lot, and he could hear Jemima talking, though he could not make out the words.

He picked up the pace to catch up to them. The sounds behind him increased in speed, keeping pace with him.

Alarm took over. "Jemima! Mistoffelees!" he shouted as loud as he could, hoping they would hear him. "Stop running!" Both kittens looked behind and nearly tripped as they tried to stop. They skidded to a halt and waited for him to catch up. Both were breathing hard, though Jemima more so than Mistoffelees.

Alonzo came to a screeching halt. "That thing, it goes only as fast as we go. Running will just exhaust us. We walk. And pray we went the right way," he said with a careful glance at Jemima.

Mistoffelees nodded, finally managing to catch his wind. "That sounds much better to me than running until we lose that thing. I think I'd pass out before that."

"We went the right way," Jemima assured him, ignoring Mistoffelees completely. She was staring at Alonzo in a way that made him vaguely uncomfortable. It was a look he normally got from queens that were interested in getting a favor from him - a favor that involved a very private dance. If he was right and Jemima did feel that way about him, things were going to become a lot more complicated than they already were.

"If you say so," he muttered. "Let's get going. I don't like feeling like this thing is breathing down my neck."

"Good idea," Mistoffelees quipped, marching along next to Alonzo. He seemed much happier now that he didn't have to run. Jemima, however, seemed vaguely upset. Maybe she was hurt that he was treating her as just another kitten, or maybe it was something different altogether. He found that he did not want to ask, and knew that it was because he did not want to deal with a very upset queen, especially not now. If things had been normal right now, if they had been in the junkyard, he might have been tempted to hear what she had to say. But now, when he had gone through a doorway into darkness in search of a queen he was growing increasingly convinced he loved? He would not do that to himself, much less to Cassandra.

They walked and walked, and walked some more. Always they knew that the thing was behind them.

The way grew darker, the stone walls less illuminated by the torches, though they showed no sign of burning less brightly. They simply failed to penetrate the darkness.

Jemima lagged further and further behind them as they walked the seemingly endless path, to the point where she was almost out of sight behind them. Alonzo felt compelled to say something. He cursed his luck. "Jemima," he began. She looked up. He could faintly see her eyes gleaming in the torchlight. And just above her, the hideous glowing eyes of that monster dog. "Jemima," he continued, "Listen to me. You can't stay back there. You have to run. As fast as you can. And when you get to us, you have to keep running. We'll be with you. Right behind you. Okay?"

He saw her shake her head. "Then look behind you." She did. He saw her jump in fear, saw her fur bristle outward, nearly doubling her size.

She ran. The dog ran after her. True to his word, when she passed him and Mistoffelees, they ran after her. The dog came after, growling deeply. The sound reminded Alonzo of a deep, cruel laugh. It was almost as if the thing knew they could not outrun it. It was hopeless.

And then it was not. The clanking of the chains suddenly stopped and the dog made a horrible gurgling noise. One of the chains had not been merely dragging behind; it was attached to something far away down that hallway Jemima had insisted they avoid. The dog could go no further, which must have been why it had suddenly given chase after following patiently for so long. It pulled on the chain, which creaked and groaned but did not give, and growled and snapped its jaws. All of this was, of course, futile.

That last chain was strong, maybe not as strong as it might have been, but strong enough. Alonzo let out a breath he had been holding, and turned to look at it. Somewhere ahead of him down the hall, Jemima and Mistoffelees came to a halt. He could not resist watching the dog struggle against its chains, and something inside him thrilled to be alive.

The dog never stopped its struggle, but as it continued its futile fight it began to fade. It gradually became less and less visible until it ceased to exist at all. All that remained was the gouge mark the chain had made in the floor.

"Alonzo, look at this," Mistoffelees said.

Alonzo turned, unsure he really wanted to see what 'this' was. As it turned out, it was something infinitely less menacing than a gigantic drooling dog monster. It was a staircase. An enormous, stone staircase that went up, up, and up into the darkness. Faintly, in the distance far above, Alonzo could make out the flicker of a single torch, and the darkness beyond as the staircase wound away into the stone. He felt distinctly nervous about going up this staircase, but they did not have much of a choice. There was, after all, always the chance that the dog monster would return if they went back, and he was not certain he felt better about going back than he did about going up.

"Well," Alonzo said, "This is unexpected. Do we go back or go up?"

Jemima sat down on the bottom stair and looked miserable. "I don't know. I was so certain I knew which way to go back there, but now I just don't know. I'm so confused now." Alonzo felt a twinge of guilt for thinking such mean things about her earlier. She was just a scared kitten, not a scheming queen that wanted to be his partner.

"It's okay, Jemima," he told her. "You got us this far safely, and that's more than enough to justify your worth."

"Yeah," Mistoffelees piped up. "We'll think of something, don't you worry." Jemima smiled uneasily.

"Really?"

"Of course," said Mistoffelees.

Something made a loud booming noise in the darkness they had come from. The three cats stared nervously into the darkness, but it was impenetrable even to their keen eyes. Alonzo wondered what had happened to the torches. Another loud sound rattled the darkness.

"I think," Alonzo decided, "that we should go up."


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three: The Highest Room of the Tallest Tower**

Before them loomed the most imposing staircase any of them had ever seen. Up, up, up, the stairs rose ever higher into the darkness. Alonzo stared upward, trying in vain to see through the pervasive dark. It was no use. By now the torches were too far apart to see much beyond them, and even his keen Jellicle eyes could not penetrate far into this darkness. He glanced back at his companions, worried that they might be pushing themselves too hard to keep up with him; he had trained himself to endurance and stamina as part of his role as defender of the tribe, Jemima and Mistoffelees had undergone no such training. They were not necessarily weak, but they were young and inexperienced, and he still felt that he was pushing them harder than he should have. If only they hadn't complicated things so much by following him into the abyss…

It felt as if they had been climbing forever. They had finally come upon another torch, after feeling their way upward in the now-silent darkness for what seemed like hours, and he had agreed to rest for a while. Jemima sat cross-legged on the floor, appearing almost in meditation, while Mistoffelees sprawled nearby. For some unfathomable reason, Alonzo could not keep still, so he paced back and forth along one of the upper stairs. In this place, the stairs were wide. The torch they sat by was mounted on a pole in the middle of the stairs. In other places, however, the stairs had narrowed to the point that they could barely squeeze between the walls. Nowhere was the ceiling visible. Alonzo did not know whether it rose a hundred feet above his head or just one, all that he could see when he looked up was a vast blackness.

"I wonder how much further up this goes," Mistoffelees mused aloud, his soft voice shattering the silence and echoing eerily up and down the staircase.

"I don't know," Alonzo sighed. He was under the impression that Mistoffelees was trying to get Jemima to talk, but the young queen did not even open her eyes, much less respond. These days it seemed she was only interested in one tom, and that was not Mistoffelees, much to Alonzo's chagrin. "But I think we should get going again soon."

"I do _not_ like it here," Jemima murmured in agreement, her eyes still closed.

"Then that settles it. We keep going. Come on, Tux, off your lazy bum." Mistoffelees grumbled under his breath at the use of the much-disliked nickname, but he obeyed, rising reluctantly to his feet. Alonzo chuckled. "You too, Jemima."

The young queen rose gracefully from her meditation pose and strode to Alonzo's side. "I am ready," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Alonzo did not understand why she was being so quiet, but supposed he should not complain. At the very least she was not insinuating her desire to replace Cassandra as his mate, if such a desire even truly existed outside his head. Shaking his head to clear it, he peered ahead into the darkness and wondered what they would find when, if, they ever reached the top.

Feeling carefully ahead of them for each step, they moved up into the darkness. There were no more torches. The path grew ever more narrow, until Alonzo thought he would go crazy from the closeness of the walls. With each step he could feel the fur on his shoulders brush the walls; he waited fearfully for his whiskers to graze against a wall in front of him, rendering them at a dead end in the middle of a mountain. At least Jemima and Mistoffelees were most likely having an easier time with this, as they were much smaller than he was. For some reason, they did not speak when they were in darkness, only when they came to the torches. All was silent, close, and dark for an interminable amount of time. Until Alonzo felt his whiskers brush against something in front of him. Oddly, it did not have the same feel under his paws as the stone to either side. It had to be a door. They had not come all this way to run into a wall after all.

He put his paws on it and felt for anything – a handle, a hole, an edge. Faintly he heard Jemima and Mistoffelees catch up to him and pause a few steps behind him, uncertain in the darkness. He paid them no mind, concentrating on his task of finding a way to get past the door. There - a small latch that turned easily when he found it with his paw. He pushed; the door swung inward with a groan.

Flickering light spilled out into the stairwell, temporarily blinding them.

When Alonzo could see again, he beheld a room like nothing he had ever thought to see. It was an enormous room, roughly hewn into the living stone, which extended back and up beyond where he could see. There were torches set in sconces at regular intervals along the walls, and faintly from above shone the light of simple chandeliers. The floor was covered in places by beautifully woven rugs in shades of red and white and gold, and where there were no rugs there was smooth, almost polished, stone.

Here and there a few pieces of finely wrought furniture could be seen. Alonzo thought he could hear the whispered sounds of people in the room, but he could see no one.

He took a few cautious steps into the room, passed the first of the torches. All around him were shadows, vague silhouettes in the shape of cats, dogs, the occasional humanoid. His eyes grew wide; was he seeing things? Apparently not. With each step he took, he could see more shadowy figures, and hear the whispers more clearly. He glanced behind him, barely able to see Jemima and Mistoffelees through the smoky shadows, and was reassured that his fellow Jellicles were indeed following him.

Unsure of whether the figures milling around him were solid, as they did not even appear to notice his presence, Alonzo wove his way carefully between them, making sure all the while that he did not touch any of them. Then he saw it. Or, rather, he saw _her_. There, a single solid form among thousands of transparent silhouettes, was Cassandra. She was perched delicately upon one of the fine lounges, heavily veiled in a mass light purple fabric, but still immediately recognizable. Her face was turned from him, she was apparently speaking to one of the figures, a slightly more solid form that had paused its wandering to stand at her side. She gave a nod and the shadowy form faded away.

Alonzo could do nothing but stare. He simply could not understand what Cassandra was doing in this place, much less wrapped up in a bunch of fancy purple fabric. The thought passed vaguely through his head that his legs felt as if they were made of lead, but he had no room in his heart for anything but Cassandra. Something in him was ecstatic that he had found her so easily, the rest of him wanted to approach her, take her back to the real world with him. There was a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach; it felt as if his feet had sunk into the floor and taken root there. He could not move.

Something, some small noise, perhaps, made her turn to look in his direction.

A single piece of the purple fabric covered her face above her nose; he could see now that the fabric itself was transparent, but when layered it formed the sort of shimmery garment Cassandra was wearing. Behind the fabric, her face was shadowed, but it was still her very familiar face. Unable to stop himself, he smiled widely. The sinking feeling suddenly gone, he sprinted up to her and stood in front of her, almost staring. Mistoffelees and Jemima were completely forgotten.

"Alonzo?"

Such a simple word, but he could hear so much confusion in her voice. "Yes, Cassandra, it's me," he told her, feeling almost rushed to tell her what had happened, as if time were of the essence. Maybe it was. "That black shadow thing, it came back. I saw the door! I knew you had to be inside, so I came after you. Now all we have to do is find the way back." It sounded so easy when he said it like that. He hoped it would be.

"Alonzo," she whispered his name again, disbelief still evident. This time, she reached out a paw and touched him gently. Her face showed no expression. "You are here," she continued slowly. "I cannot … how …" Finally, he could see something on her face. Anguish. "_Why_?"

"I," he paused. "I had to, Cassie. I couldn't just leave you here. Not without knowing why you left, and if it was your choice, and if you were ever going to come back." He honestly could not explain the words that were coming from his mouth, he sounded altogether too noble for his own good. Maybe it was true. He hoped it was true, but he had never really analyzed his own motives and he was not about to start now. Leave that to the philosophical types, like Tux. Where was Tux, and Jemima too, for that matter?

Her breathing grew irregular, even though she said nothing. It took him a moment to realize that she was trying not to cry. "Aw, Cassie, it's all right," he told her. "Just tell me what happened. You'll see. Everything's going to be fine."

"How can you say that?" She shuddered. "There is no way out. Once you are here, you are here forever."

She looked so sad and defeated sitting there like that. "Come here," Alonzo whispered, pulling her into his arms and holding her tight. That purple fabric rubbed his fur the wrong way. "We will find a way out, I know it. There was a way in, there has to be a way out."

"There is," she agreed, resting her head on his shoulder, "but it is so high up that we will never be able to reach it. Only the shadows can come and go."

"If there is one exit, then maybe there are more that we don't know about." Alonzo was trying to be plausible, but he could not help but wonder whether Cassandra's pessimism was well founded.

"I have not been able to find one." She choked.

"Don't cry, Cassie. Everything will be fine, I promise."

"You promise?"

"Yes." His heart was pounding. Something weird was going on here. She was gently moving her paws, touching him in all the right places to drive away all thought of anything but her. It felt … nice. And yet…

"I love you," she whispered.

_Wrong_.

"What?" It came out harsher than he intended, but suddenly there was a chill in his blood. Those three words were something he never expected to ever come out of Cassandra's mouth, no matter how well he knew it to be true. It was so unlike her to be that forthcoming… Either being a prisoner in this place had changed her in ways he could never understand or there was something wrong with her, with all of this.

"I," she faltered. "Did I say something wrong?"

He pulled away, held her by the shoulders at arm's length. "Let me see your face when you say that." It came out more as a snarl than anything else. He could still faintly feel the touch of her paws, but any of that was drowned by his sudden shock and concern.

"I, please, no," she murmured between gasps.

"That's odd." He let go of her with one arm, pinning her against him as best as he could with the other, and drew aside the purple fabric. She stared at him and he stared back, a stricken look upon his face.

She had no eyes. Where her beautiful blue eyes had once been there were only two terrifying black voids. Horrified, he tried to thrust her away from him, but somehow she had a firm grip on him. She grinned a terrible grin. "What's the matter? Did I say something wrong?" she asked in a voice that was not hers. "Or is it my appearance that bothers you, love?"

Alonzo stuttered incomprehensibly. "You, eyes, what, how –"

She laughed, and her voice grew deeper and more foreign. She shimmered before his eyes and turned to blackness. The fabric fell to the floor in a pile and the incorporeal form that had been Cassandra shifted into a shapeless mass as it moved away from him, its laughter still ringing in his ears. The blackness gathered itself into a new shape, one that was much more sinister. It took the form of a black tom, crouched on the edge of the lounge not unlike a gargoyle. He could make out long fangs and sharp claws and, oddly, black wings like those of a bat. The fur on its back was long and took the shape of a row of large spikes.

Alonzo backed away slowly.

The thing, whatever it was, laughed, its voice a hideous parody of Cassandra's. "How easily you are fooled, Alonzo."

"How do you know my name? And where is Cassandra?" Alonzo demanded, too frightened to do anything but be belligerent.

"I need explain nothing to you, mortal. But I will give you this advice: Give up on the one you call Cassandra, for she will be the death of you. Leave this place while you still can."

"Wait a minute. Just who are you?"

The voice grew colder and infinitely more intimidating. "That is none of your concern, mortal."

Alonzo looked straight into its horrible black eyes. "Where is Cassandra? I will not leave here without her."

"Then you will die." The thing reared up on its back legs and leapt, its black claws slicing through the air toward him.

It was warm and dark, almost like being inside some great womb; at least that is what it seemed like to Jemima. It was just like a dream, floating gently through darkness, without a care in the world. She sighed, or tried to. The air would not leave her lungs and she choked on it, on the realization that she was not sleeping but was awake and somehow trapped _inside_ the earth. Panic set in; she struggled against it, tried to cry out, but to no avail.

Alonzo was right, she never should have followed him into that blackness, should never have convinced Mistoffelees to go with. Just when she was certain she would die there, there was light. It came from nowhere, indeed there was nowhere for it to have come from, but she knew from the feel of it that it was moonlight. It was such a welcome sight that she wanted to burst into tears.

And then there was air, open air. She gasped for breath, thankful just to be alive. Somehow she did not fall, though it appeared she had fallen through the ceiling and into an enormous room; she drifted slowly down until Mistoffelees reached up and grabbed her, pulling her down into his arms and hugging her tight. She did cry, then.

At length, she thought to ask, "What happened to us?"

"I think," Mistoffelees began, his voice cracking, "I think we went through the floor."

They looked around without letting go of one another; things had been scary enough with Alonzo there to protect them, now that they were alone, it was downright terrifying. The room was dimly lit, but it was clear enough that it was big. And filled with row after row of bookshelves, each filled with innumerable enormous leather bound volumes written in mysterious scripts and ciphers.

"What is this place?" She knew he would not know the answer any more than she did, but it helped keep her mind off the obvious question: what had happened to Alonzo?

His voice incredulous, Mistoffelees said, "It's a library!" Indeed, there was little else it could have been, filled as it was with books.

"But what is a library doing in the middle of a mountain?"

"I don't know, but maybe we can find something interesting. Help me look." Mistoffelees was a totally different tom when magic and lore were involved; suppressing a smile, Jemima followed the emboldened young tom as he made his way among the shelves. They meandered through the darkness for quite some time before Mistoffelees let out a victorious shout and took off _up_ one of the bookshelves, straight to the top shelf. Jemima stared after him, bewildered, until he leaned over the edge and announced what he had found.

Mistoffelees was one of few Jellicles that knew how to read at least one form of human script, and he put that knowledge, combined with his mystical senses, to good use. "It's a book that I can read," he told her, pushing it over the edge and onto the floor. "I think there's something in it that we can use."

He leapt down smoothly, gracefully, and nudged the book open. Jemima peered over his shoulder, trying to make sense of the symbols, but it was all foreign to her and she could not understand any of it. "I've got it!"

"What?" Jemima asked, her excitement painfully obvious in her voice. She was starting to worry about being discovered in this place, or being found by another shadow monster like the dog-beast from before.

He pointed to a spot on the page, "Here. It keeps talking about the 'cursed prophet'. That has to be Cassandra."

"What does it say?"

"It's… weird. Let me see. It says that 'the cursed prophet is the light among shadows, and knows the way between worlds.' If it's really talking about Cassandra, and I think it is, then what could it mean?"

Jemima's eyes went wide. "Mistoffelees, what if it means that when we went through that doorway into wherever it is we are now… what if when we did that, we left the 'real' world? That would explain all of this, the weird shadow things, falling through the floor, Cassandra disappearing…"

"You're right! Bit if that's true, then we have to find Alonzo and Cassandra."

Something was moving toward them in the darkness, its thudding footfalls startling both kittens into silence. Jemima's fur bristled. Mistoffelees grabbed her paw, whispering urgently, "Come on, let's get out of here!" She felt like she couldn't move, could only stare where she knew that _something_ would appear just as soon as it got close enough to kill them. Against her will, she let out a small, frightened whimper.

"Come on!" Mistoffelees yanked her forcibly to her feet and pulled her after him, leaving the book abandoned on the floor where it had fallen.


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four: A Gleam of Light**

Alonzo did not think, he just turned and fled as fast as his feet could carry him. Belatedly he realized that he had no idea where he was going; he was not even certain there was anywhere he could go, except back down the stairs. Since that was the last place he wanted to go, he turned sharply and ran in the other direction, this time not caring which shadows he ran through and which he avoided. They were all the same now, almost as if they had become one seething mass of darkness.

He ran ahead blindly, crashed through another faceless form, and heard a whisper.

"Alonzo."

A shudder ran through him – the voice was Jemima's. What had happened to Jemima and Mistoffelees?

He shot a quick glance behind him, but the shadow monster, or whatever it was, was right behind him. It could not really fly with its wings, but they gave it lift, enabling it to make great leaps. It was _fast_.

There was nothing he could do about his lost companions just yet, but he had a feeling they would be all right until he could get rid of this latest monster. It was fast, yes, but he felt, deep in his gut, that if he could keep away from it long enough it would tire of the chase. Realizing how quickly it was coming after him, he knew it might be a while before that happened.

His breath was coming hard now, but he could see the far end of the room. It was a deeply curved wall lined with doors. Not doors, exactly, but entrances to other hallways, more rooms carved right into the rock. Which way, which way, which way?

_The second hall from the left_. The answer came to him with Cassandra's voice. He knew it was the right way, despite the deceit that ruled this place.

He swerved toward the right, letting the thing follow him, trying to trick it into running down the wrong hall by zig-zagging madly. He let his path draw out and away from the door he wanted, as if he was approaching the final hall, and turned at the last second. He heard the roar of rage as the monster shot past the entrance and partway down the other hall. He did not waste a moment.

The hall was lined with doors. Tall doors, wide doors, small doors, big doors. Ornate doors, simple doors, doors that were mere holes in the wall. Alonzo stared at them all as he ran past. He knew that he did not want to find out what was behind any of those doors. The one he wanted was still ahead of him, still distant, but now reachable.

The enraged roar of the monster filled the hall behind him. Not long now, not long at all.

He saw it, then, and knew which door he wanted. It was on the small side, but essentially nondescript. Just an average, everyday door.

He swore he could feel the creature's breath on his neck as he yanked the door open, jumped inside, and slammed it shut. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the inevitable. It came just a few seconds after he shut the door – there was a loud, resounding smash as the monster slammed bodily into the door. There followed the sounds of fierce thrashing, but no matter how hard it fought, the door would not open. A few minutes more and the creature backed off, seeming to acknowledge its defeat.

Alonzo breathed a sigh of relief and opened his eyes a crack.

The room was dimly lit, the walls the same rough-hewn stone as the grand hall. Sprawling across the floor, however, was a miniature replica of the Jellicle junkyard. Alonzo stared at it in disbelief, until he noticed something else. Cassandra was sitting near one edge of the model. There was something in this room, something that screamed to him that this was the real Cassandra, no matter what he had seen and felt outside.

She was looking at him, just looking. There was such confusion in those light blue eyes. He smiled.

"I was beginning to think I would never find you," he told her.

Her expression did not change, but her head did tilt a bit more to one side. He was beginning to feel like an idiot, standing there, grinning at her like that.

She stood, still looking as if she was unable to comprehend what was before her. Now _that_ was the Cassandra he knew. He crossed the miniature junkyard to stand in front of her, uncaring of what he stepped on. Something cracked under his weight, his foot stung from it, but he found he did not especially mind.

"You cannot be here. I am seeing things," she whispered, shaking her head. "I do not understand…"

"What's to understand? You are in danger. I came to help you in any way that I can. To bring you back home, if it's possible."

"I –" She hesitated uncertainly, "May I touch you?"

"I don't see why not," Alonzo told her, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. He remembered all too well what that creature had tried to do. Cassandra seemed to sense his discomfort, for all she did was gently touch his paw with her own. She looked at him carefully, eyes narrowed.

"You are solid. Even here, you are real." There was surprise in her voice, but more importantly there was also a small hint of joy, relief even. An ordinary passerby would not have noticed the subtle emotions that could be heard in Cassandra's voice, and, in fact, most attributed her lack of outward emotion to a certain sort of arrogance. Alonzo had learned, somehow, to hear the hidden emotions and understand, or at least tolerate, their apparent absence.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

Her head tilted again, inquisitively. "There is nothing real here. Only the shadows. Always those damned shadows." He did not know what to say, so for the moment he said nothing. Eventually she added, "I do not understand…"

"Don't you want to leave?" He could not explain his sudden impatience. "I – I feel like we need to get out of here. And soon."

"You do," she told him miserably, "If you are as real as you feel. This is no place for the living. If you stay here too long, you will be here forever. Once you have been here a certain amount of time, there is no going back."

"What about you? Wait, why do you keep talking as if this doesn't apply to you? And how do you know all of this?"

There was a sad smile on her face. "This is where I come from, Alonzo. Do you see now why I am hesitant to speak of it?"

Alonzo knew that hesitant did not begin to describe her reluctance. What he did not know was what to do to make her feel better. She was obviously resigned to her place here, as well as to the thought that she could never return to the Jellicles. It was sad, in a way.

"I will show you the way out, if you wish," she said finally.

"There's a way out?"

She did not laugh at his foolishness. "There is a way in, there is a way out. They are not to be found on the same path, but both ways exist. I can lead you safely to and from both, but I myself cannot follow them. This place, it is my destiny to remain here." She looked away, the only outward sign of her distress.

"What do you mean?"

"I cannot escape, no matter how hard I try. It is… difficult to explain."

"Try me." He was deadly serious, and it showed in his voice.

"I - I am bound here somehow. I think that I was born here, but, truly told, I do not remember. All I know for certain is that the rules that apply to normal people like you do not apply to me. I am able to stay here indefinitely with no ill effects. If you were to remain here, you would eventually become one of the shadows that fill this place. But I cannot leave. Well, that is not entirely true." At that point, she stopped to examine him again.

"Go on."

"I can leave. For short periods of time. I sometimes find myself in your world, but I can only remain there until he comes for me, and then I must go with him whether I want to or not. Sometimes it takes him months to find me. Sometimes as much as a year. Sometimes only a few hours. But he always finds me. And when the shadows come, I cannot stay away. And I – I do not know how, or why, you have come after me. I don't understand… This has never happened before."

Alonzo thought on that for a moment. "Who's this 'he' you keep talking about?"

"You should know him. He followed you here. For the moment, he cannot enter. I do not know what keeps him out, but its influence always wanes. I think, almost, that it is my ties to your world that keep him at bay. When first this junkyard appeared, he could not bother me. After a while he could get through again. And one day I woke up here," she told him, pointing to a spot on the model. Alonzo remembered that spot well. It was the very place he had come upon a strange brown queen, almost one year ago. Funny, to think that now he had come to this place to save that same brown queen. "I think, now, it is you who is keeping him out. But even that will not stop him forever. He is strong here."

"But, who is he?"

Cassandra shrugged. "I do not know, not for certain. All I know is that he has always been here."

They were getting nowhere. Alonzo sighed. "How do we, I, get out of here?" he asked, hoping she might know something on that subject.

"There is a door," she told him, "down one of the other paths. On the other side of the door there is what looks at first to be an empty void. It is actually the path back to your world. If you trust your instincts and not your eyes you will find the way. I can show you to that place, if you like."

"But you can't go with me?"

"I cannot go with you."

"Well, there goes that idea, then."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not leaving without you. Or haven't I made that clear yet? Besides, we have to find Jemima and Mistoffelees before we can leave. That means we'll have at least a little time to think," he explained. He half expected her to know already that the kittens had followed him.

Apparently, she did not. "Others came with you? Why?"

"I really don't know why, but yes, they did. I suppose if you really want to know why you'll have to ask them. If we ever find them. Do you know what could've happened to them? They disappeared when I was in that big room back there." He gestured vaguely in the direction he thought the grand hall had been in.

"That room is very dangerous. If that is where they disappeared, I do not truly know whether we will find them again at all. We can look, if we can distract him enough to let us out of here," Cassandra decided.

"There's no other way out of here?"

She shrugged. "None that I have ever found. Then again," she smiled, "I have never thought to look."

"You never looked?" Alonzo asked in disbelief.

"It never occurred to me to look for another door. What hope have I of ever escaping this place? What does it matter to me if there is another door?"

"Good point. But we're going to have to work on that pessimism."

"Pessimism?"

"Never mind. Just help me look." He was carefully examining each of the walls when the banging began. It was a loud sound, like something big was throwing itself against the door in an attempt to break it down. A glance over told him that something big was indeed throwing itself against the door, trying to break it down. He had a feeling he knew what that something was.

Then he spied it. It was difficult to see, but there was a crack, no bigger than a hairsbreadth, in the wall. Cracks were common in walls, but he had never seen a crack that straight and that perpendicular that had not been put there on purpose.

"I found it, Cassie," he told her, "Help me."

She was not paying attention to him; her eyes were fixed on the door. It rattled on its hinges with each blow. "He is going to break through. Even you cannot keep him away."

"That's not true. Now come help me open this door, or we're never going to get out of here, and he _will_ get us. Do you want that to happen?"

"No. But, there's nothing –"

"Oh, stop saying that. If you keep saying it, it will become the truth. Now _help me_."

Finally, she came to his side. She stared at the wall, unseeing. "There is nothing here, Alonzo," she whispered. He heard the sadness in her voice plain as day. He was determined not to let that sadness win.

"There is nothing here, Alonzo," he muttered, mimicking the sound of her voice. "Didn't I ask you not to talk like that? Never mind. Just help me push." Choosing his spot carefully, he put his shoulder to the wall and pushed with all his might. The wall creaked and groaned, but nothing happened. "Are you going to help me?" His back was to Cassandra, so he could not see her, but he felt when she, too, pushed on the wall. There was a terrible rending sound and the door slid away, hiding itself in the wall. Beyond, there was something Alonzo had not expected to see.

It was an enormous field under the bluest sky Alonzo had ever seen. There were a few puffy white clouds in the sky, and a soft breeze rustled through the grass. Bright sunlight spilled over everything. It went on and on, as far as he could see on every side. "What the –"

"I remember this place."

Cassandra stepped through the door and did not look back. Alonzo cast one glance back at the strange room, shrugged, and followed Cassandra. The wall and door disappeared behind him. Unnerved, he reached out to touch it. His paw went straight through something – nothing? – and, presumably, back into the room he had just left. A few inches to his left, and he could touch something solid. He could not see them, but there were walls here. They had gone from one prison to another, or so it seemed.

Realizing that Cassandra had gone on without him, he shouted, "Hey, Cassie! Wait for me!" and ran after her. She stopped and waited for him to catch up, but said nothing. Alonzo got the distinct impression that she simply did not want to talk. He did not press her.

They walked for a long time in silence, stopping now and then to take a closer look at something. It felt as if they had been walking for hours when Cassandra finally spoke. "I know this place, Alonzo. I think, I think it is where I was born."

"Why do you say that?"

"My earliest memories are of this place. I remember nothing before, and not much after, but this place I remember as if I was here yesterday. As if those memories of my kittenhood happened just yesterday. But that means, that I am part of this shadowed mess. Though I suppose that would explain why I cannot escape it."

"Don't say things like that. I already told you: I won't leave without you. We'll figure something out, don't you worry," he said, trying to reassure her.

"I am afraid," she whispered.

"Afraid of what?"

"That your time here is almost up. I do not know how long you have been here, but I get the feeling that we do not have much time. I have already told you –"

"If I stay here too long, I become one of those things. I know. I'm trying to think fast, but you're really not helping me much."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't apologize. I _chose_ to come here. All of this was my choice. It's not really your fault. So stop blaming yourself."

She was silent for a long time. He let it rest, and simply sat next to her. If she was right, and he was going to be stuck here forever, at least he would be with her. He would be damned if he was not going to spend his last moments with her.

"Something is coming." The fur on her neck was bristled, her lips curled back in a hiss. Alonzo was on his feet in a second.

He heard a muffled sound and prepared himself for battle. What came from nowhere was not what he had expected – it was Mistoffelees. The conjuring cat was staring ahead of him, his eyes wide in disbelief. He took a few more steps, his look of shock turning into one of elation, and pulled Jemima through after him. The young queen had her eyes squeezed shut, her ears laid back in fear. And she was clinging, in a very endearing way, to Mistoffelees' hand.

Alonzo raised an eyebrow. Mistoffelees shrugged, trying to look innocent. Jemima finally opened her eyes, which promptly grew large and round. "Wow…" She seemed to have forgotten entirely that she was holding Mistoffelees' hand.

Alonzo grinned, he thought he saw a small smile on Cassandra's face.

"Speaking of troublemakers," he said, his grin growing even wider. "Long time no see, Tux. What happened to you two?"

"I… don't really know," the conjuring cat answered, looking chagrined. "All I know is that one minute I was trying to follow you, and the next I was falling. Through the floor. I ended up in this huge library, and Jemima was with me, but we couldn't find you. So we, uh, did a little snooping around. Then this big thing came after us, and we ran away. And, uh, kept running away. But our tunnel came to a dead end." He paused dramatically. "Or so it seemed. I could feel something there, so I convinced Jemima to come through with me. And here we are."

"You escaped from the Grand Hall!" Cassandra exclaimed. "I –" She cut herself off, biting her lip and looking away.

"You what?" Alonzo asked.

"I have never met someone that escaped from the Grand Hall. Those that disappear there, they never reappear. Ever. I have never even heard of this 'library' you say you ended up in," she confessed.

"We found something interesting there," Jemima said. "A book."

Alonzo tried not to roll his eyes. "And what good, exactly, does a book do us?"

"Mistoffelees can read," the young queen announced grandly. Mistoffelees looked distinctly embarrassed.

"There was something in it that was interesting, at least in the part I got to read," he admitted. "It was about you, Cassandra. It kept talking about the 'cursed prophet,' so I assume it meant you."

"Cursed prophet?" Alonzo asked.

"Yes. It is her name. It's a long story, but Cassandra was a mythical prophet that was cursed never to be believed," Mistoffelees explained. "Anyway, it said that 'the cursed prophet is the light among shadows, and knows the way between worlds.' I thought it was weird, until Jemima mentioned that this might not be part of the real world, that this place might be something altogether different." That conjuring cat sure could talk, once someone got him going on the subject of magic.

"So, what you're saying is that Cassie can get us out of here?" Alonzo prodded, forgetting that Cassandra had (repeatedly) asked him not to use her nickname around others.

Both the kittens nodded enthusiastically. Alonzo looked at her expectantly.

"I – that can't be true! I don't know how –"

Alonzo smiled, "But you've done it before. Maybe you just don't have to think about it –"

Jemima screamed. "M-m-misto!" she stuttered, "I can see through you!" She looked at Alonzo, "Eep! You too!" It was true. Alonzo was more than a little unnerved, but he tried not to let it show.

"Cassie, you have to get us out of here. Please."

"I can't. I –"

"Yes, you can. I believe in you. Please, try."

"I," she paused. "I will do my best."


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five: To Part the Darkness**

Alonzo did not remember falling asleep. In fact, he remembered very little of what had happened after Cassandra promised to help them escape. He opened his eyes only to close them again; the sun was so bright he felt blinded. Shaking his head to clear it, he rolled over and stood up, carefully opening his eyes again and taking a look around. He nearly yelped in surprise. He was in the junkyard, and Cassandra was with him. She was lying right next to where he had been, and appeared to be sound asleep. He decided against waking her, and took a closer look around. Yes, Jemima and Mistoffelees were there, too.

To all appearances, this was the junkyard they had come from, but Alonzo felt suspicious after their little 'adventure.' He knew full well that he was just being paranoid, but he thoroughly investigated their immediate surroundings before he finally went back and nudged Cassandra.

She made a small noise and turned to look at him.

"Where are we?" he asked, being careful to keep his voice quiet.

She looked confused. "Where you asked me to bring you," she answered. "We are in the junkyard. At least we should be. Why? Is something wrong? Did I make a mistake?"

"No," Alonzo told her, ignoring the continuous stream of questions she was asking under her breath, "Everything's fine. I just wanted to be sure before we wake up the kittens."

"Then I will be on my way," she said. "I – We need to talk. When and where can I find you later?"

Alonzo frowned. "How about at my den just after sunset?"

"I will see you there, then."

"Hey, Cassie." She stopped and looked back at him expectantly. "Be careful, okay?"

She smiled. "I will."

He watched her leave until she disappeared from view, then turned resolutely to the kittens. They were laying side-by-side, sound asleep. _If those two don't hook up by the time this adventure of ours is over, I'm an idiot_, he thought, stifling a laugh. More soberly, he reached out and poked Mistoffelees on the shoulder. "Hey, Tux. Wake up, sleepyhead," he teased.

Mistoffelees reached back and swatted at his paw. "Leave me alone, Tugger. I'm still tired," he mumbled.

Alonzo grinned. That was interesting. He leaned down close to Misto's ear. "I said, 'wake up'!" he shouted. He laughed madly as Mistoffelees and Jemima jerked awake. Jemima was on her feet almost instantly, and hissing at him. Mistoffelees sat glumly next to her, rubbing his head and squeezing his eyes shut.

"Sorry, sorry," he apologized. "But I had to do that."

"That wasn't a very nice thing to do," Jemima told him matter-of-factly. She gave him an angry look before she sat down. She would not stop looking at him, and it was beginning to make him distinctly uncomfortable. He glanced at Mistoffelees.

"Maybe," he admitted finally, "But I tried poking him to wake him up, and it just wasn't working. Besides, we're home now, and someone needed to wake you two up. Would you rather I had just left you two here?" On second thought, he may have just blown any chance of romantic awakening by being loud and boorish. Ah well, things were going his way now, and he was determined to enjoy it by pulling pranks on anyone he could, and in general having a good time.

Despite his good mood, or perhaps because of it, Jemima did not seem impressed. "It still wasn't very nice," he told him.

"Sheesh, if it upsets you so much, then consider it something I won't do again."

Finally a smile crossed her face. "I will."

Alonzo grinned. "Well, then, if you're both all right, I'll be on my way. I've got stuff to do." He hoped he did not sound as ambiguous – and suspicious – as he thought he did. So what if Mistoffelees was suspicious, anyway? He had already irritated the conjuring cat enough for one day; there was no sense in wasting all his energy on driving Mistoffelees batty. Or was there? He thought the better of that idea very quickly and made his way hastily to his den.

Strangely, after all he had been through, he did not feel fatigued at all. He was not even sure the other Jellicles had noticed anyone was missing, for they did not give him a second glance as he made his way home. He was sure now that they had returned to the junkyard they had left behind, and he was glad of it. Still, it was odd, how it seemed as if no time at all had passed inside the thing. Whatever it had been. He wondered what Cassandra would have to say about the whole mess; maybe she would be able to explain what it was and why it kept coming after her. He hoped she would.

To pass the time, he set about grooming himself and making sure his fur was in good order. In the afternoon he went hunting and made sure to keep to himself; oddly he did not feel like discussing his adventure, even when Jemima attempted to approach him. He did not understand the kitten's apparent attraction to him, and he was not about to do anything about it until he spoke to Cassandra, and maybe not even then. A teenage crush was a teenage crush, and it was not his job to cater to her every whim, though many of the Jellicles would have been happy to do just that. He mused on this for a long time. Why him, when she could have any tom in the junkyard, and this one was taken?

It was very late in the afternoon when Munkustrap came to him. "Old Deuteronomy wants to see you, if you're up to it." The silver tabby paused. "I don't understand why he said that last part, but I'm sure it's important, because he made sure I'd say it. Well…?"

Alonzo sighed. He might as well get this visit over with before Cassandra showed up, and besides, he had a feeling the Jellicle Leader did not want to be kept waiting. "Sure, I'll go. May as well." He followed Munkustrap dutifully and hoped this meeting would not take too long.

Old Deuteronomy was napping atop the tire that formed one wall of the Jellicles' normal meeting place. Whenever Deuteronomy was in the junkyard that was the place he was most often found, and it seemed he was there today. Alonzo nodded his head when Deuteronomy stirred and looked his way; a tom of his rank did not need to bow before the Jellicle Leader unless he was asking for some outrageous boon or just trying to make a good impression. Alonzo was glad he was doing neither of those things. "You wanted to see me?" he began.

Deuteronomy nodded once, then glanced at Munkustrap, "You may leave us, my son," he told the silver tabby. Munkustrap turned and left with barely an acknowledgement, though he seemed to be a tad disappointed. Alonzo watched him go, and then turned back to Deuteronomy when he began to speak. "I had hoped to avoid this conversation, Alonzo, but it seems the time has come when it must be done." His voice sounded distant, almost sad.

"What are you talking about?" It was a stupid question, Alonzo knew, but it came out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Deuteronomy looked him straight in the eye. "I think you know, my son. I am talking about Cassandra. It is a long story. Will you listen? I feel that it is something you should know."

"I'll listen." He knew he would be late meeting Cassandra if he stayed, but felt that she would understand. At the very least he _hoped_ she would understand. After all, he had chased her through a world of shadows to bring her back home; after that misadventure he thought he deserved to know what was going on.

"This is for you only to know, you must not tell this to anyone else. Do you understand?" Somewhat confused, Alonzo nodded. "Thank you. And, please, do not tell Cassandra that you know this. It would only hurt her to know that I told her secret to another. Tantomile and Coricopat know, of course, how could they not? They are sensitive to this type of thing. Mistoffelees might have known, had he been older when she came to our tribe, but as it is he was far too young to understand what he felt from her and so he does not recognize her for what she is.

"She came here in the dark of night, when most Jellicles were away, almost one year ago to the day. One moment there was nothing and the next the air was filled with a powerful magic. I could feel it all the way at the Vicarage, and magic that strong is very frightening. To give you an idea of its strength, I could not sense Macavity at such a distance, and the same is true of our Mistoffelees. This power was stronger than that which can be contained within a living being. It came, it terrified those of us with magic to sense it, and then it was gone.

"I was afraid for their safety, but I sent the twins to investigate, for at the time they had the most experience with magic of any of the Jellicle Cats. They found Cassandra there, sleeping as if nothing had happened. When questioned, she did not know how she had come to be there, or even who she was. The twins, wisely, brought her to me." He paused to grin at Alonzo before continuing; "I think you came across her some time later, all on your own."

"And?" Alonzo asked, thoroughly confused by all this. All this time he had thought that _he_ had been the first to find Cassandra at the junkyard.

"Cassandra is not of this world. Not entirely. She was quite willing at first to let me look into her past, to see if I might find anything that would help us figure out who – or what – she was. Her mother was a cat, like any of us, but her father… The best way to describe her father is to call him a shadow. Or a demon, as the humans would say, whichever term you prefer. There is strong magic that runs through her veins, though she does not feel it and I doubt she could use it even if she wanted to."

"So, that's why," Alonzo muttered.

"Why?"

Alonzo grinned, feeling foolish and trying in vain to hide it. "Why Tux chose Cassandra as his 'assistant' at the Ball, when he had to rescue you, I mean, instead of one of his fans. He kept babbling about her aura this morning, and I didn't understand why he was so sure she was gone. Now it all makes sense. He picked her because he could always find her because of this aura thing, no matter where she was. Same as you. So he switched her into your place, then … Oh, I give up trying to understand this magic stuff. At least part of it makes sense now," he chuckled.

Deuteronomy had a faint smile on his face. "Mistoffelees simply found something else to put in Cassandra's place when he brought her back. To this day, he will not admit what it was, but a magician cannot simply take an object and move it somewhere without – "

"Hey," Alonzo interrupted jokingly, "I never said I wanted to know. I specifically said I was giving up." He grinned rakishly at the Jellicle Leader. Suddenly serious, he continued, "So you think that is how Cassandra came here in the first place? That power she has that she can't control?"

"It is likely," Deuteronomy agreed. "Some of the most powerful magicians have power that is seated so deep within them that they cannot tap into its power no matter how much they wish to, at least no consciously. I believe that Cassandra is one such magician."

Alonzo thought about that for a while. "She said something about that," he muttered, only half to himself. "She said she went to sleep one day and woke up here. Weird." He realized suddenly that he was not sure Deuteronomy knew what had happened earlier that day; he was not even sure how much time had elapsed while they were gone, if any. When they had returned to the junkyard, it seemed to be just a few hours later than it had been when they left. It was an odd feeling, to think that there was something going on about which the Jellicle Leader knew nothing. Alonzo's fur bristled.

"Is something wrong, my son?"

"No, nothing. May I go now?"

"Of course."

Deuteronomy chuckled, almost to himself, as Alonzo walked away. "She is good for you, my son," the Jellicle Leader added.

"What do you mean?"'

"She has calmed you down. Why, just a few weeks ago, you would have been chasing any queen that batted her eyes at you… And now you have found one that you truly care for, without even realizing it." The Jellicle Way, the one belief he had always scoffed at: a tom should find a single queen and stay with her for life, and a queen should find one mate with whom to spend her life as well. It had always seemed boring and unnatural, and yet, there it was. The whole time he had been looking for Cassandra, he had been pushing Jemima away instead of flirting with her as he had even at the last Jellicle Ball. It was disconcerting to realize he had undergone such a complete change without noticing. On the other hand, it meant that all of his efforts to bring Cassandra back to the Jellicles were not in vain. He left Deuteronomy then, deep in thought.

Cassandra was waiting for him when he reached his den, pacing, her tail twitching impatiently every so often. She looked immensely relieved when she saw that the figure approaching in the half-light was he and not some stranger. And definitely not a shadow. He smiled in greeting and nuzzled her gently.

She purred a little and looked distraught.

"What's wrong?"

"I am confused, that is all," she confessed. "I should not be here. It does not make sense. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

"You mentioned that a few times," Alonzo agreed, grinning, "And I still don't care. You're here, we're together, and that's what's important. I don't think it matters that you weren't able to go back to the same place you were taken from…" He paused thoughtfully for a long moment. "I talked to Deuteronomy this afternoon," he finally told her. "And that got me thinking. Maybe you could never go back because you weren't meant to be in those places."

Her brow furrowed as she thought about this. "What makes you say that?"

He shrugged. "It's not really something I actually thought about until now. But those other places you ended up, you consciously wanted to go there, right?" She nodded. "What about here?"

"The junkyard…model… appeared in that room one day, but now that I think about it, I never decided that I wanted to go there. After all, it does not look like much."

"Thought so."

"You think that is somehow significant?"

He had to think about that for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I do. You were here almost a year before this happened. Maybe they couldn't find you because you didn't choose to come here. Bah, it sounds stupid when I say it out loud like that."

"No. I do not think you are foolish at all, Alonzo, but it is something I will have to think about. I- I do not know why, but I never thought about any of this before I met you." She laughed nervously, "It sounds silly now, but I never even thought to try to defy Him, or to escape. I just dreamed myself to those different places, where I thought I could be happy. And then somehow, all unawares, I ended up here. It all seems very strange."

Alonzo tried not to get annoyed. He could not understand how she could go through life thinking she was in some way stuck in this weird nightmare; she never even tried to fight back against it, even when he was there to help her. Somehow, he knew, he would have to teach her how to fight. The spark was there, he just had to figure out how to make _her_ see it.

He realized he had been silent too long when she said, "I should be going."

"Stay here. With me." It was a question, a plea.

"But I-"

He silenced her with a kiss. She stayed.


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six: Corroded Cage**

Cassandra shifted uneasily.

Alonzo looked her over with a carefully appraising eye. "So, let me get this straight," he began, after staring at her for several minutes. "You think you're pregnant?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"And you think that –"

"Yes. He will come for me."

"For the kittens?"

She looked away, staring at the shadows in the corner of his den. It was early yet, the moon had not risen, and everything was dark. "Yes," she answered finally.

There was a long silence while Alonzo tried to think of something to say. He knew well how much Cassandra feared the shadows, but try as he might he could not think of a way to protect her from them, or to chase them away once and for all. Things had been peaceful for a few weeks, but it seemed that she was tied to the shadows just as much as the Jellicles were tied to the moon.

"I need to think about this," he admitted finally.

Cassandra sighed sadly. "I do not know if there is anything you can do to help me, Alonzo. It makes me happy to know you want to help, but He always gets what He wants."

"Bah," Alonzo scoffed. "No matter how powerful you say he is, he can't possibly know everything. Besides, we've got Tux and the twins on our side. We'll protect you if it's at all possible. Please… don't feel you have to leave to protect us."

"It worries me." Cassandra was slowly but surely becoming more comfortable expressing herself, at least when she was around him, but her reluctance could be infuriating at times like this. She shifted her gaze from side to side, looking everywhere but at him. He wanted to take her in his arms and force things to be all right, but he knew that he couldn't. Nobody could. They both knew it.

"Cassie, please stay. If something bad happens, we'll figure out what to do then. IF something bad happens. You can't keep living as if something bad will always happen." Unable to stand it any longer, he nuzzled her gently. She took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh. "Look, I know –"

"It is difficult to be brave when I do not understand what is going on or why." She looked him in the eyes; his breath caught in his throat. "I only know what has happened before, and it scares me. I want to stay here. I don't want -"

Alonzo smiled. That, he could deal with. "Then you'll stay here. If he comes for you here again, we'll be ready for him. And with all of us behind you, we'll think of something." She looked skeptical, and in her position he thought he might feel the same way; she had always been something of an outsider among the Jellicles because of the strange way in which she had come to be one of them. After all, not many cats that were found sleeping in the junkyard were readily welcomed into the tribe, but Old Deuteronomy had taken a special liking to this child and had bid her be welcome for as long as she wished to stay. It made more sense now that he knew that Deuteronomy had met and welcomed her before she was officially "found" and brought before the Jellicle Leader for questioning.

She looked at the ground and ignored his reassurances. "Alonzo, I don't want to be taken in the night again. He knows where this place is, and once he figures out what is going on, he will come here to look for me."

"Stop being so stubborn and _listen_ to me," he muttered. "We'll help you. We are your family. Whether the others like it or not, Deuteronomy has welcomed you into our tribe and we are duty-bound to help you." He waited for the look of astonishment to disappear from her face, and tried to keep his own expression gentle and caring. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep from yelling at her. "Now that Tux and the twins know what to look for, they can keep an eye out for it and warn us before anything bad can happen."

"I will try." It was all she could promise, and for now it would have to be enough. He stayed with her that night, when the rest of the tribe was out and about the junkyard, and tried as best as he could to comfort her. It did not occur to him until much later to wonder whether the kittens were his, or if Cassandra merely thought that he would be the best one to protect her offspring; after all, she had been in heat shortly after their adventure and toms from Admetus to Rum Tum Tugger had been pursuing her. He tried to dismiss those dark shadows that lately had been lingering always at the edge of his consciousness, but try as he might the thought nagged. It became almost like an internal argument.

Cassandra isn't that devious.

_But she's also just a Cat, despite what Deuteronomy says about her father. She has needs. _Urges

She wouldn't _use_ somebody like that.

_But Rum Tum Tugger is _very_ attractive - and quite charming when he wants to be. Any queen could fall for that. Any queen could make that mistake. And once is all it takes…_

But she loves _me_.

It sounded weak, even to Alonzo; after all, Cassandra had never confessed love for him, nor even mentioned anything like it. So it went, back and forth, day and night, as he argued both ways inside his head. In the meantime, it seemed Mistoffelees had been busy with the twins Tantomile and Coricopat, seeking a solution to Cassandra's problem. Three days after Cassandra's confession of pregnancy, though she had as yet told no other save the twins, who were sworn to secrecy for the moment, Mistoffelees slipped into Alonzo's den wit h news. Alonzo was gloomily brooding in the den, content for the moment to ponder the possibilities of infidelity, but Mistoffelees was unusually cheerful.

"We found something."

Alonzo blinked in confusion. "We? Who's this 'we'? And what have you found, and where?"

"An answer. Tantomile says it would have to be temporary, but it's something." Alonzo cocked an eyebrow at him quizzically and said nothing. Taking the hint, the young tom continued, "It's a sort of magical shield that, if we do it right, can keep out the forces of darkness. Which is good, because all we have to do is set it up and Cassandra's immediately protected and that thing can't come back for her. _But_ –"

"There's always a catch," Alonzo grumbled.

"But," Mistoffelees continued, ignoring Alonzo for the moment, "It is tied both to a place and to the person it protects. Meaning that if we do it, for the spell to remain intact Cassandra must remain in the place where we cast the spell. It may be possible to cast it over the entire junkyard and give her that much room, but Tantomile and Coricopat doubt we could do much more than that, if we can even do that much. It's a tough choice."

He did not need to think about it. "So, you're saying that if you make this 'shield' thing, Cassandra will be protected, but she'll be trapped here, and probably in only a small portion of the 'yard. Am I right?" Mistoffelees nodded. "Do what is necessary to protect her, Tux."

Suddenly Mistoffelees looked like the shy young tom he normally was. "Munkustrap already told me that… But I don't like it. Shouldn't Cassandra get a say?"

"She does. I promised her we, the Jellicles, all of us, would do whatever we could to make sure she was safe." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "She's pregnant, you know. It's no longer just her we have to look after, and she's terrified for them. I am too." _Liar_, whispered something dark.

"I see." He sounded intimidated. "I guess then the stakes just got a lot higher. I better tell Tantomile and Coricopat."

"I think they already know," Alonzo murmured, "But to be safe tell them and no one else. This doesn't need to become gossip just yet."

Mistoffelees saluted, making Alonzo feel vaguely like Munkustrap or Jennyanydots; he could not quite decide which would more likely receive a salute that silly. "Understood. I'll talk to you later, Captain. We magicians have work to do." With that, he departed, leaving Alonzo to his thoughts.

In the end, Mistoffelees went behind Alonzo's back and against Munkustrap's orders and asked Cassandra for her permission; it seemed his conscience was unsettled lately. She agreed to whatever terms were necessary to ensure the protection of herself and her unborn children, though like Mistoffelees she never admitted it to any other, except to Alonzo when he pressed her for it.

The day of the spell casting dawned cloudy and gray; Deuteronomy had ordered the junkyard emptied of all the Jellicles that he did not deem immediately necessary to the project, though he was of necessity vague in his explanation of why it had to be so. Cassandra may have been willing to be bound to the junkyard to protect herself and her children, but she still did not want the news becoming common yard gossip. Mistoffelees was there, as well as Tantomile and Coricopat, as was to be expected. Also in attendance were Alonzo, Munkustrap, and Old Deuteronomy. The rest of the toms, who would normally have helped keep the junkyard safe from strays and other vagabonds, were engaged in escorting the queens and younger kittens and making sure they stayed out of trouble until it was safe to return to their dens. Some of the kittens had not yet left the junkyard before this, and they turned out to be quite a handful for their caretakers.

Jemima, especially had been difficult that morning; the spell was to be cast during the day, so that most of the Jellicles would merely find a comfortable spot far from the center of the junkyard and sleep through it. But Jemima had been adamant about staying, even refusing to obey Jennyanydots. In fact, Alonzo very much doubted she would have left at all if it had not been for Mungojerrie, who, in a rare fit of responsibility, picked her up and carried her bodily away from the clearing.

As he sat next to Cassandra and watched them depart, Alonzo did not envy those other toms. He did not much like his lot, either. He was considered one of the strongest Jellicle toms, one of the best fighters and most capable leaders, one of the cats the others would come to if they needed help or advice – though the quality of his advice was often debatable – and he hated to be rendered helpless. And when it came to magic, like most of the Jellicles, Alonzo was completely helpless.

The three magicians joined hands and recited the spell from memory; Tantomile and Coricopat had numerous spellbooks and grimoires, but they considered those books too precious to risk taking them outside their shared den. Mistoffelees often stumbled over the unfamiliar syllables, but his expertise was not needed, his power was. Despite their lack of innate power, the twins were well practiced and knowledgeable enough that they could help Mistoffelees use his magic in the proper way without his knowing it.

It cast an eerie pall over the scene. Alonzo's fur stood on end, his every nerve felt on fire, as he watched and worried. In fact, of all the Jellicles present, only Deuteronomy looked calm and unaffected.

The air fairly crackled with magic.

For a long time, the only sound was the soft chanting of the three magicians; then all of a sudden a transparent blue sphere appeared out of nowhere and engulfed Cassandra. To her credit, she managed not to panic. Alonzo was hard pressed to do the same. He glanced nervously at Munkustrap but found no reassurance there. Almost as soon as it had appeared, the sphere shrank in on Cassandra and gradually faded away; a similar sphere flew straight upward, almost as if it had come from Cassandra's heart, then grew to enormous proportions, engulfing all of the Jellicles and a large portion of the junkyard, before fading away. A faint blue glow remained where the edges of that sphere had touched the earth.

"Remember that boundary," Tantomile said, pointing.

"For it is as far as your protection extends, and you may go no farther," Coricopat cautioned.

"I understand. And I thank you, all three of you, for your help." With that, Cassandra departed, making her careful way toward her den. Alonzo watched her go but did not move to follow her. At the moment he was more concerned about the tribe's magicians, especially Mistoffelees; the young tom looked exhausted from the ordeal. Until that moment, Alonzo had not quite realized that some hours had past since they had begun the spell. If not for the thick clouds, the sun would have been high in the sky by that time.

As if sensing that the deed was done, the first of the Jellicles were already beginning to return to their dens. As his fur was still prickling Alonzo thought it a good idea to follow their example. "We should take cover," he murmured to Munkustrap and Deuteronomy, stating the obvious. "It looks like rain." Indeed, the first drops were starting to fall even as he spoke.

The few remaining Jellicles scattered, each making their way toward their den of choice. Alonzo went toward his den, then snuck around several large heaps of junk and backtracked to Cassandra's den. He had caught sight of Jemima a few moments earlier and did not want her following him. The rain was coming down harder as he slipped into the tight space beneath a ruined chest of drawers that had long ago toppled over – the place that Cassandra called home. He was about to go in when he heard something.

From deep inside the den came the sound of muffled voices; one was Cassandra's, the other clearly belonged to a tom. He nearly stumbled but regained his composure and crept backward up the small tunnel; luckily it was long enough to hide a tom and curved just enough before leading into the larger main den area that he was completely hidden from view.

"I assume the spell went well?"

"Yes. It would seem I am protected. For now, at least."

_See? She _is_ that devious. Not an hour after you helped to save her, she is in the arms of another_.

Between his own raging thoughts and the pounding of the rain, Alonzo could hear no more of what was said. Shaking his head fiercely in a vain attempt to clear it, he moved backward until he was free of the tunnel and ran back to his own den. Despite his best efforts at speeding through the downpour, he was soaking wet and extremely uncomfortable by the time he arrived. He was, however, glad to get in out of the rain.

He shook himself to a semblance of dryness before he realized he was not alone. Jemima stared at him out of the darkness, wide-eyed and apparently frightened. If nothing else, the sight of her snapped him out of his trance. Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance. "Jemima? What are you doing here?"

"I- I'm scared," she stuttered. "I came to see you… but you weren't here."

"I went to check on Cassandra," he lied, his voice gruff. Did she somehow not see that he wanted her to leave him alone?

She pretended not to notice. "Oh! How is she?"

"She's _fine_." Something in that angry response silenced Jemima, though he paid little attention to her. The doubts that crowded his head – though he had been blessedly free of them for the past few days - were returning in force, and some of them urged retaliation he was not sure he was ready to attempt.

_Get back at her now, while you know she is busy. She can't just cheat on you and expect your help. Jemima is here. Jemima is willing._

I don't know that Cassandra has done anything wrong!

_But she might have. She has been acting strange lately._

I don't believe that. I won't believe that until she tells me herself.

"Alonzo?"

_Ask now before you lose your chance, you coward._

No! I will not use Jemima even if Cassandra has used me. It's tempting, but no. I made my choice.

"Alonzo? Are you okay?" He did not answer; indeed, he hardly heard her, for all the panic in her voice. "Uhm, Alonzo… I'm going to leave now. The rain's letting up… and… I'll talk to you later." With that, the young queen fled out into the rain, which had not let up at all.

Alonzo rested his head on his paws and shivered. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would talk to her; tomorrow he would make things right and silence his doubts for good.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven: Now or Never**

Alonzo never did talk to Cassandra like he had sworn he would. She never mentioned it, and he let it be at that; days turned into weeks, and Cassandra's pregnancy began to show more and more with each passing day. She seemed unperturbed, but it began to bother Alonzo enough that he felt he had to say something.

"You have to tell them sometime, Cassandra," he informed her.

With a sigh, she reluctantly agreed. "I will talk with Tantomile about it. We will let them know soon."

Anger boiled up from somewhere, unintended. "Whose kittens are they, anyway?" There was malice in his voice that not even he had heard before; Cassandra looked aghast, then stricken, and finally frightened. He had hurt her deeply. He did not care. He wanted to know, deserved to know. Of a surety, he had rescued her from the darkness, but there had been plenty of time after for infidelity, for mistakes. Worse, he could no longer tell which thoughts were his and which were from the insane doubting.

"They are yours," she said, the slightest hint of a tremble in her voice. It was the most emotion, other than the horrible despair she had shown as they tried to find a way to escape that strange alternate reality, that he had ever heard enter her speech. "Why do you doubt me, Alonzo? You have been my savior and my best companion. What have I ever done to give you reason to think otherwise?"

He wanted to tell her that everything was all right, that he was being silly and that he forgave her, but he could not stop himself. It was almost as if someone else controlled him. It gave him a strange, bewildered and frightened feeling. "You had plenty of time, Cassandra," he murmured, his voice little more than a dangerous growl, "They could belong to any tom in this junkyard, for all I know." He pressed close to her, so close that he could feel the heat of her body next to his. "I want to know for sure they're mine. That you haven't been sleeping around on me."

Something deep inside him cried out, but it was too late. Cassandra broke away from him and ran. Almost as soon as it had appeared, the darkness in him vanished. What had he done? Worse, why had he not been able to stop himself from doing it? He shook his head; in the end it did not matter. He had to go after Cassandra, to apologize for being an idiot and set things right before it really was too late.

He ran after her, hoping to catch up to her. With the added bulk of the growing kittens, she should have been slower than normal, but in her panicked state he found he could not catch her. It stung that she was running away from him. He called out to her, shouting wordlessly and praying she would understand; she did not stop. They passed the twins, who were lying together atop one of the ruined cars of the junkyard, and Tantomile cried out some warning that was lost as they flew past.

Too late Alonzo saw the faint shimmering line of the spell, shining still to show the confines of Cassandra's gilded cage. Cassandra did not see it or did not care. She crossed the faintly glowing line and something _broke_.

It wrenched inside her. She tripped and fell, tumbling head over heels, sick to her stomach and horrified when she realized what had happened. "Oh, Alonzo, what have I done?" she whispered, knowing he would not hear her. Once she came to a halt, she forced herself back on her feet and ran. It no longer mattered where she was going – the darkness was gathering all around her. He knew. He had known since the moment the protective spell had been cast, and He had been lurking ever since, waiting for His chance to claim what was His. He had used Alonzo to capture her.

Shadows welled up where there should be none, engulfing everything around her, even the familiar shapes of the junkyard. She was only vaguely aware of tripping again and falling down the steep side of a large pile of refuse; she never knew if she hit the bottom. The darkness enveloped her and claimed her for its own.

After an eternity, she opened her eyes. She had not realized she was shaking with fear until she opened her eyes and realized she was not back in her room in His shadow kingdom. There was only darkness and more darkness, but he had not been able to return her to His lair; she murmured a silent prayer of thanks to Tantomile and Coricopat for whatever vestige of their spell had saved her from that. She heard a growl in the darkness, and was suddenly aware that He was there with her; He was resting upon some unseen perch, eyeing her carefully. He. Her father.

"You are mine," he hissed. "You do not belong to that world."

She was terrified, and yet somehow emboldened. She knew he could not claim her as fully as he would like, not while she yet had some tie to the Jellicles, to the people that loved her. "No. I do. I have found love, friendship, and happiness. All of those things that you in your bitterness and anger would not let me have."

He smiled His terrible smile; He knew He had won. After all, He was a God in this place, in all the places where there was darkness and shadows. In this place, He had power. "All I have done, I have done for your own sake, not my own," He told her. His voice was as deep and dark and enticing as the shadows He commanded. "Your mother returned to that world after you were born, forsaking you forever. And that is where she died, daughter. I would spare you that same fate. Here, you might live for eternity. I will take care of you, as I always have."

That struck a chord, some long forgotten memory, locked away deep within her. Blue eyes, the most beautiful blue eyes in the world, looking lovingly down upon her: her mother's eyes. He lied. She had known her mother, had loved her mother and been loved in return. Other memories came flooding back; a tale of a young queen, one of the holy ones, kidnapped from the world she knew and brought to a place of shadows, raped and forced to bear the children of a demon God that he might someday know love, killed at the hands of that same demon God who would never know love as mortals do. That beautiful, sacred queen died at the hands of a demon, hoping to show him how to love. She was killed, along with her children, her demon offspring. Only one kitten survived. One. One kitten, with creamy brown fur and her mother's brilliant blue eyes.

"You lie!" she screamed, surprised by the force of her voice. "It was not like that, it was _never_ like that!"

"Alonzo! Wake up, you dolt! Cassandra's in trouble!" Even though Alonzo was groggy, confused, and would have immensely preferred to sleep for several more hours, Mistoffelees was insistent that he wake up. Alonzo was lying in a puddle of sticky, smelly water. He decided that he did not want to know where it had come from.

"What are you talking about?" He felt as if his tongue was wrapped in cotton-fuzz; his mouth was dry and felt almost swollen.

"You tell me," Mistoffelees muttered. "One minute everything's peace and quiet, the next Cassandra takes off like she's being chased by a Pol, but it's _you_ she's running from. She went through the barrier and you… You threw up _water_. Lots of it. And then you passed out. And…" He glanced around shiftily. "She fell."

Alonzo's eyes went wide. "Is she all right? What about the kittens?"

"Come see for yourself." As an afterthought, he added, "Electra's getting Jenny." Mistoffelees led the way, around a bend and down a steep hill formed by the junk. Cassandra had apparently tripped and fallen from near the top of the hill, somehow gotten caught in a beat-up gilded birdcage and rolled the rest of the way to the bottom where she lay now, unconscious. Jemima was beside her, wide-eyed and terrified.

"What can we do?" Alonzo asked.

"I guess we wait for Jenny and hope everything turns out all right." Alonzo hated waiting. Even though it was only a few more minutes before Electra came running back with Jennyanydots in tow, Alonzo paced restlessly and cursed everything he could think of. Munkustrap followed soon afterward, and he was charged with carefully lifting Cassandra free of the birdcage; Alonzo would have preferred to do it himself, but realized he was too much of a mess to do so. In all likelihood, he would have simply made any injuries worse. Better to let someone more capable handle it than risk harming his beloved.

Munkustrap deftly carried Cassandra's limp form up the hill and away, probably to Jenny's den where she could be supervised and kept warm until she recovered. As she walked past, Jenny paused to tell him, "I will send someone for you as soon as I am done inspecting her for injuries. Until then, please try to calm down. You're shaking like a leaf, Alonzo."

"I'll try," he promised. Inside, he was in turmoil. _What if I can't save her this time?_

Jemima came and stood beside him for a moment, sensing his distress. "Alonzo… I'm so sorry this happened. I'll – I'll help Jenny if I can." She ran up the hill after Jennyanydots, Electra following wordlessly close behind. That left Mistoffelees.

"Don't worry Alonzo, I'm sure she'll be fine."

He did not believe that.

Despite Jenny's orders, Alonzo made his way straight to her den; when she refused to let him inside, even though she had admitted Jemima _and_ Electra, he took to pacing anxiously outside. It was a long time before anyone came out of that den, and in the meantime Alonzo had to put up with sidelong glances and curious looks from most of the other Jellicles. For the most part, he ignored them, but with Rum Tum Tugger sneering at him he began to wonder where Munkustrap had gone and how ill the tabby tom would take it if Alonzo beat up his younger brother. But at that moment Munkustrap hurried into the junkyard followed by Old Deuteronomy. Much to Alonzo's consternation, both toms slipped into Jenny's den and were not shooed back outside.

Alonzo plopped himself down just outside the entrance to the den and did not move for a long time. After what felt like an eternity, Jennyanydots approached him. Her face was somber. She sat down quietly, trying to think of what to say.

"She will probably survive," she said at last. "The fall was not a bad one. There is a stress fracture in her left arm, probably from landing on it as she fell. She also likely has a concussion. Really, this would not be much to worry about, except that she is pregnant. Did you know?" Alonzo nodded. "I should have thought so. At any rate, we do not know if the kittens were injured or not. But she has not miscarried yet and shows no sign of bleeding, so they may well have survived intact."

"Thank you, Jenny."

"You may see her, if you wish."

He was not sure he truly wanted to go in there and see the damage he had wrought, but his feet carried him anyway.

His talons were around her neck; she had made the demon God angry with her accusations. Cassandra gasped for breath, struggling to remain conscious as He choked off her air. She sobbed once, in despair, knowing she would be taken back to his lair and kept there this time, a prisoner for all time.

With a flutter of wings and a soft coo, a pure white dove landed on His shoulder. He recoiled at the touch and drew back enough that Cassandra could slip free. She fled somehow through the nothingness, His roar of rage echoing behind her. To catch her, He took flight, using His massive wings to gain distance and speed; in this place He could fly.

_No, he can't. He is too heavy to fly._

The demon God fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Cassandra's eyes went wide. She stopped running and turned to face him. "You… All the power that you have, _I_ gave to you. I let you control me, I let you control _Alonzo_." Comprehension dawned upon her. It was not Alonzo that had said those things to her, that had chased her through the junkyard and landed her in this place. It was her inner demon that had done all that. "You are no demon God. You are nothing but an angry ghost that feeds on the anguish of others – anguish _you_ cause."

The demon God snarled, all powers of speech vanished from him, taken away by Cassandra's wish. Tears pricked her eyes, frightened tears, as he prepared to attack her again; this time, he would kill her if she would not consent to remain his prisoner. "Stop," she said, her voice calm and clear and utterly belying her true fear. Iron bars rose up from nowhere as the demon took flight. He slammed into them with a crash, but could not pass. He, it, thrashed against the bars, reaching and scratching, trying in vain to get past them, to attack her.

"You will not haunt me again." The bars around the demon creature melted, changed shape, and became a cage: a series of bars with no door and no hope of escape. She dreamed it, and it was so. In this place, _she_ had power.

It roared again, but the sound was not nearly so fearsome as it might have been. Cassandra realized with a shock that she was no longer afraid. Her lips curled back in a smile and for a moment she was afraid of herself. "I will live in fear no longer. You will stay _here_ and bother me – and those I love - no more."

She would have said more, but as she made that declaration the world shifted. She lost her footing and fell, with a spiraling sense of dizziness and an increasingly painful headache. The cage holding the creature tumbled away into the darkness and disappeared, and she heard worried voices around her. Jennyanydots was one, and two of the female kittens. And Alonzo. Alonzo!

She opened her eyes suddenly and sat upright. The force of it made her head spin but she was ecstatic to find herself in Jennyanydots' den, surrounded by the Jellicles who loved her most. "Alonzo!" she cried his name and threw her arms around him as best she could. He had been sitting beside her, gently stroking her paw, when she awoke. The growing bulk of her kittens, which were due any day now, made their embrace awkward but all the sweeter.

"Cassie, forgive me," he whispered, his face close to her ear as he nuzzled her. "I'm such an idiot…"

"It was not your fault… It is a long story to tell, and I will tell you all of it later, but it was not your fault. Please do not blame yourself." When she finally looked around the den at the other Jellicles, she was surprised to see that even Jemima, who had never much seemed to like Cassandra, was smiling. Alonzo was grinning too; it took her a moment to see why – Jemima and Mistoffelees were holding hands, though they were trying to be subtle about it.

For the first time since she could remember, Cassandra knew that everything would be all right and that she had nothing to fear from the shadows of her past. She leaned against Alonzo and smiled.


	9. Epilogue

**Epilogue: Free**

It was some time before I found the strength to tell Alonzo what had happened to me, though I know not if I will be able to do so when he arrives to talk to me. For a few days we were happy, we were part of a tribe. But gradually things have begun to go back to the way they were. I have become an outsider again now that I have recovered from my illness – a concussion and a broken arm – and my kittens were born. But my kittens are welcome members of the tribe, and since they have been able get about on their own, there has not been a Jellicle that disliked them.

They are growing up now, the three of them, and I begin to feel the call again. The shadows are still there, even if I have banished their demon God, that angry ghost that had ruled my life for so many years. I am just now beginning to grasp just how many years that was. My mother, the queen he snatched from the human temple, was one of the sacred Cats from the glory days of the human nation of Egypt, which has been in decline these thousands of years.

I have power within me, from the sacred line of my mother and the shadows of my demon father; these gifts are not something I can control, nor would I even presume to call them gifts except that Old Deuteronomy insists that they are. Most of the Jellicles know nothing of my past, and I prefer it that way. If they knew, I think I would be more of an outsider than ever I have been before.

I am unsure how to tell these things to Alonzo, my dearest and most beloved, but I know that however impossible the story, he will listen to me.

And yet it is tempting – so tempting – to hide in the shadows the rest of my days, to worry and fret over what I was born and what I might become… I greet him with a purr and a nuzzle. The sun is setting and he has waited for me here, to listen to the tale I may not yet be able to tell him. It is a frightening thing, to confront one's past and lay oneself completely bare. The shadows, present as always, beckon me. I am tempted. It is too light here, and I am a creature of the dark.

But for him I will dare the light.


End file.
